Water treatment dispensers

ABSTRACT

A dispenser apparatus for cantileverly mounting in an off-line condition in an axially component of a water system with the dispenser apparatus carrying a water treatment composition therein that can be released into a water system with one embodiment of the dispenser apparatus including a pair of replaceable containers for holding a water treatment composition with the containers serially located so that the water flowing into one container flows into the second container with the second container removable from the first container so that the second water treatment composition can be replenished without having to replenish the water treatment composition in the first container.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates generally to water treatment and, morespecifically, to a water treatment device having a water treatmentcomposition therein with the water treatment device cantileverlymountable to a water system housing to provide water treatment to watercirculating through the water system housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The use of dispensers to hold and dispense solid water treatmentcompositions is known in the art. Typically, a container holds the watertreatment composition in an inline postion while water is forced tocirculate through the water treatment composition. Water treatmentcompositions such as chlorine or bromine are used to kill the bacteriain the water system. In other water treatment systems ions of heavymetals are used to kill bacteria and algae in the water. Generally, thedispensers are permanently built into the water system; however, inother instances it becomes necessary to retrofit a water system withwater treatment dispensers. The present invention provides a dispenserapparatus that can be cantileverly mounted in an off-line mode into thehousing of a water system. The water treatment dispenser apparatus canbe cantileverly mounted to a new or an existing water system in either asingle or a dual water treatment mode. In the dual water treatment modethe two water treatment compositions can be serially arranged within thedispenser apparatus so that the water first comes into contact with oneof the water treatment composition and then comes in contact with thesecond water treatment composition with at least one of the watertreatment compositions replaceable independently of the other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] A dispenser apparatus for cantileverly mounting in an off-linecondition of a water system with the dispenser apparatus carrying awater treatment composition therein that can be released into the watertreatment system. One embodiment of the dispenser apparatus includes apair of replaceable containers for holding a water treatment compositionwith the containers serially located so that the water flowing into onecontainer flows into the second container with the second containerremovable from the first container so that a second water treatmentcomposition located therein can be replenished without having toreplenish the water treatment composition in the first container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a sand filter having a dualwater purification system mounted therein;

[0005]FIG. 2 is a cross sectional front view of a dual waterpurification system for mounting in the sand filter of FIG. 1;

[0006]FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view front view of a single waterpurification system mounted in the sand filter of FIG. 1; and

[0007]FIG. 4 shows a partial schematic of a water purification systemwith two dispenser apparatus therein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0008] In order to illustrate the use of the dispenser apparatus of thepresent invention in an auxiliary component of a water system referenceshould be made to FIG. 1, which shows a cross-sectional view of anauxiliary component comprising a sand filter 10 that is commonly used inconjunction with a water system. Sand filter 10 is used in systems wherehumans come into contact therewith such as in spa or pool systems. Adispenser apparatus 30 is cantileverly mounted to housing 17 of sandfilter 10. Generally, sand filters 10 are used to remove debris from awater system and comprise a container 17 having a base 18 for placementof the unit on a support structure. Located on top of sand filter 10 isa water inlet 11 and a water outlet 12 that connect to the water system.Typically, the sand filter 10 contains a bed of sand 14 in the bottomthereof with the sand positioned so that water flowing in the inlet 11must flow through water outlet 12 before being discharged from the sandfilter which removes debris and the like in the water.

[0009] In operation of the water system using sand filter 10, water 9flows in inlet 11 as indicated by arrows and downward through adispersal chamber 21 and into upper portion of chamber 13 which containswater 9. The water 9 then flows downward through the bed of sand 14until it reaches the return port 15. The water enters return port 15 andflows up pipe 19 until it is discharged from outlet 12. Thus the waterentering the sand filter 10 must pass through the bed of sand 14 toremove debris in the water. It is with such an auxiliary component of awater system that one can mount the present invention to provide forcontinual water treatment.

[0010] In the present invention the dispenser apparatus 30 iscantileverly mounted in an off-line position in housing 17 of the sandfilter 10 with the dispenser apparatus 30 having a cylindrical container31 that projects inward into the water flowing through the sand filter10 so that at least a portion of the water comes into contact with thedispenser apparatus 30. Thus, with the present invention it becomesapparent that as the water continues to circulate through sand filter 10at least a portion of the water comes into contact with the dispenserapparatus 30 to carry the water treatment composition therein into thewater to enable the water treatment composition to purify water withinthe water system.

[0011] In order to illustrate the after market installation andoperation of dispenser apparatus 30 reference should be made to FIG. 2which shows a cross sectional front view of a dispenser apparatus 30cantileverly mounted to the housing 17 of sand filter 10. A hole 17 ahas been formed in housing 17. Dispenser apparatus 30 includes a firstmember 35 and a second member 35 b for sandwichingly securing dispenserapparatus 30 to housing 17 through hole 17 a. A first annular seal 37extends on one side of housing 17 and a second annular seal extends onthe opposite side of housing 17. Member 35 threadingly engages a member35 b, which is located on inside of housing 17 to permit one to squeezeseals 37 and 38 around housing 17 to provide a water tight seal betweenhousing 17 and dispenser apparatus 30.

[0012] Dispenser apparatus 30 includes a removable cap 32 having threads32 a that enables cap 32 to threadingly engage threads 35 a on member 35for removal of cap from member 35. A sealing ring 34 fits between cap 32and member 35 to provide a water tight seal between cap 32 and member35.

[0013] Connected to member 35 is an annular container 31 that extends incantilever fashion into chamber 13 (shown in FIG. 1). Container 31 hasan outer face 31 a and an inner face 31 b spaced therefrom to create anannular chamber 40 therebetween. A suitable first water treatmentcomposition 41 is an ion yielding material selected from one or more ofthe ion yielding materials that yield ions of silver, copper, zinc ortin in the presence of water. In one example of such a water treatmentcomposition silver chloride is carried by a carrier which is inert or acarrier that can be used to maintain the pH of the waters such aslimestone. In this type of composition silver ions are controllablereleased. Such a water treatment composition is shown and described inmy copending application Ser. No. 09/707,114; titled DELIVERY SYSTEM ANDMETHOD OF MAKING ARTICLE; filed Nov. 6, 2000 and claiming priority ofU.S. Provisional application serial No. 60/177,558 which was filed onJan. 21, 2000.

[0014] Annular container 31 includes an upper annular lip 31 e thatenables lip 31 e to be mounted on an annular ledge 35 d in member 35 sothat the annular container 31 can be supported therein in a cantilevermanner that also allows for removal and replacement of annular container31 when the water treatment composition 41 therein is spent.

[0015] Outer face 31 a contains a water inlet formed of a plurality ofopenings 31 c located in outer face 31 a for ingress of water there in.Openings 31 c extend upward a distance denoted by h₁ to provide a regionwhere water can flow into the water treatment composition 41. Generally,the greater the height h₁ the more water can come into direct contactwith the water treatment composition 41. Similarly, inner face 31 bincludes a plurality of openings 31 d that extend a distance h₂ to forma water outlet in inner face 31 b for egress of water therefrom. Thewater inlet is spaced from the water outlet to provide a radial paththrough the water treatment composition 41 located in annular chamber 40thereby causing water therein to come into contact with the waterpurification composition 41 and assist in dispensing the water treatmentcomposition 41. Thus with a water treatment composition 41 located inannular chamber 40 it is apparent that the water treatment composition41 can be dispensed into the chamber 13 by the water flowing thoroughannular chamber 40.

[0016] In order to provide serial treatment of the water, dispenserapparatus 10 includes a removable cylindrical container 50 containing asecond water treatment material. The container 50 is centrallypositioned with respect to the inner face 31 b of annular container 31.Removable container 50 is spaced sufficiently far from inner face 31 bso that when cap 32 is removed the inner container 50 can be grasped byhandle 51 and lifted therefrom so that removable container 50 canreplaced with another removable container containing a fresh batch ofwater treatment material without having to remove container 31.

[0017]FIG. 2 shows that the removable container 50 includes a centralcylindrical compartment 51 a with the container 50 having plurality ofopenings 50 a located at the lower portion thereof which extend upwardcontainer 50 a distance h₃. In the embodiment shown the second watertreatment material can comprise an oxidizer 55 in tablet form. Suitableoxidizers 50 are chlorine or bromine which can be maintained in solidfrom and provide effective bacteria kill.

[0018] A plurality of openings 50 a, which are located in the removablecontainer 50, some of which form an inlet for water to flow therthoughand some of which form and outlet for discharge of water therefrom,enable at least some of the water flowing though the annular chamber 41to flow through both the minerals in chamber 41 and the oxidizer 55 tothereby provide for dual water purification.

[0019] A feature of the present invention is that the oxidizer tablets55 in the lower portion of removable container 50 are in contact withthe water that flows therethough while an air pocket 58 in the top ofthe chamber prevents water from flowing upward to the stacked tablets55. That is, the cap 32 forms a water tight seal so that air locatedwithin the container 50 remains in container 50 if the dispenserapparatus is mounted in a condition where the central axis 30 a is in avertical or near vertical condition with the cap 32 at the topmostposition. Consequently, an air pocket is maintained in the top ofremovable container so that as the lower tablets 55 in the removablecontainer 50 are consumed fresh tablets 55 fall downward from the airpocket in the upper portion of container 50 into the lower portion ofcontainer 50 where they come into contact with the water flowingtherethrough. Thus the present invention provides for a replenishing andcontrolled dispensing of oxidizer tablets 55 into the water bymaintaining at least some of the tablets 55 out of the water untilothers are spent. A further feature of the invention is that thedispenser apparatus shown in FIG. 2 can provide for backup watertreatment. That is, once the oxidizer 55 is spent, the water treatmentcomposition 41 in the outer container 31 is still available for watertreatment. Consequently, the inner removable container 50 can be removedand replenished with fresh oxidizer. Thus the dispenser apparatus 30enables the use of water treatment compositions, which are consumed atdifferent time intervals. For example, the water treatment composition41 may take up to six months to consume in a water treatment systemwhereas the oxidizer 41 may be consumed in only three months. In thisscenario the removable container 50 would be supplied with freshoxidizer after three months thus allowing full use of the watertreatment composition in the container 31. At the end of the six-monthperiod both the containers 31 and 50 could be removed and replenished.

[0020] The present dispenser apparatus 30 is particularly suitable forthose systems where one wants to ensure the water remains in a bacteriafree state. Typically, the oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine areused to provide an immediate kill of harmful bacteria, while other watertreatment compositions such as metal ion yielding materials provide amore controlled and continuous bacteria kill. Consequently, if one ofthe bacteria killing materials should run out the other is stillavailable to maintain the bacteria killing effectiveness until the otheris replaced. Thus the dual bacterial killing systems enhance the safetyof the water by helping to ensure that the water is maintained in abacteria free condition even though one of the water treatmentcompositions is spent.

[0021]FIG. 3 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention whereindispenser apparatus 30 cantileverly holds a cylindrical container 60therefrom that contains a single water treatment composition 65 therein.In the embodiment shown the cylindrical container 60 contains an outerface 60 having a plurality of openings 61 a and 61 b therein at leastsome of which function as water inlets and some as water outlets so thatwater flows as indicated by arrow through the water treatmentcomposition 65. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the entire container60 is removed and replaced with a fresh batch of water treatmentcomposition 65. With the embodiment of FIG. 3 it is apparent that onecan cantileverly mount a water treatment composition in an off-lineposition within a water system on either an after-market basis or duringmanufacture of the water system.

[0022] To provide for dual water purification mode with a cantileverlymounted dispenser apparatus containing only a single water treatmentcomposition a second dispenser apparatus can be mounted in the watersystem with the second dispenser apparatus containing a second watertreatment composition different from the first water treatmentcomposition. FIG. 4 shows, such a dual dispenser apparatus system 70having a first dispenser apparatus 72 cantileverly mounted on housing 71and a second dispenser apparatus 73 cantileverly mounted on housing 71.In this case the dispenser apparatus 72 carries a first container 76with a first water treatment composition therein and the seconddispenser apparatus 73 cantileverly carries a second container, whichcontains a second water treatment composition that is different from thefirst water treatment composition. In operation water flows throughinlet 71 a and into chamber 75 wherein it can come into contact with thewater treatment composition dispensed from containers 76 and 77 beforebeing discharged out through outlet member 71 b.

[0023] Thus the present invention includes method of providing off-linewater treatment to water treatment system comprising forming a hole in ahousing 17 of a water system and mounting a container 31 in acantileverly fashion therefrom. By placing a water-treatment composition41 in the cantileverly mounted container 31 water can come into contactwith the water composition 41 to thereby dispense the water treatmentcomposition 41 into the water system.

[0024] While the present invention is shown and described in relation toan auxiliary water system component such as a sand filter in a watersystem it is apparent that with knowledge of the operation of thepresent invention of a dispenser apparatus taught herein one could mountthe dispenser apparatus in other housings in other portions of the watersystem

I claim:
 1. A dispenser apparatus for cantileverly mounting comprising:a pair members for sandwichingly securing the dispenser apparatus to ahousing in a cantilever manner; an annular container, said annularcontainer having an outer face and an inner face spaced therefrom tocreate an annular chamber therebetween with said annular chamberextending from said pair of members; a first water treatment compositioncomprising an ion yielding material selected from one or more of the ionyielding materials that yield ions of silver, copper, zinc or tin in thepresence of water, said water treatment composition located in saidannular chamber; a water inlet in said outer face for ingress of waterand a water outlet in said inner face for egress of water with the waterinlet spaced from the water outlet to provide a path through the firstwater treatment composition located in said annular chamber; a removablecontainer, said removable container positionable within the inner faceof said annular container for removal therefrom for replacement thereof;a second water treatment material located in said removable container,said second water treatment material comprising an oxidizer selectedfrom the group consisting of chlorine or bromine; and a plurality ofopenings in said removable container some of which form an inlet forwater to flow therethough and some of which form and outlet fordischarge of water so that at least some of the water flowing though theannular chamber flows through both the first water treatment compositionand the oxidizer to thereby provide for dual water purification.
 2. Thedispenser apparatus of claim 1 including a sealing member for sealingsaid members to the housing.
 3. The dispenser apparatus of claim 1wherein the plurality of openings in the removable container extend onlypartially up said removable container so that when the container ismounted in a vertical or near vertical axis air remains trapped in theremovable container to thereby hold at least some of the oxidizertherein from direct contact with the water in the removable containeruntil such time as the oxidizer in a lower portion of the removablecontainer is spent.
 4. A dispenser apparatus for attaching to a housingin a cantilever manner comprising: a pair of members; an outercontainer, said outer container having an outer face and an inner facespaced therefrom to create a chamber therebetween with said inner faceforming an internal compartment therein, said outer container supportedby said pair of members in a cantilever fashion; a first water treatmentcomposition located in said chamber; a plurality of openings in saidouter container with at least some of the plurality of openings spacedfrom one another to provide a fluid flow path through the watertreatment composition located in said chamber; a removable container,said removable container positionable within the internal compartment ofsaid annular container for removal therefrom for replacement withanother removable container; a second water treatment material saidsecond water treatment material located in said removable container; anda plurality of openings in said removable container some of which forman inlet for water to flow therethrough and some of which form andoutlet for discharge of water so that at least some of the water flowingthough the chamber flows through both the water purification materialsin the chamber and the removable container to thereby provide for dualwater purification with the removable container replaceable in theinternal compartment separate from replenishment of the water treatmentcomposition in the chamber so when the second water treatmentcompositions therein is spent the second water treatment composition canbe replenished therein to provide for dual filtration.
 5. The dispenserapparatus of claim 4 wherein the removable container includes a handlefor grasping.
 6. The dispenser apparatus of claim 4 wherein the firstchamber contains silver chloride.
 7. The dispenser apparatus of claim 6wherein the removable container contains chlorine in solid form. 8 Thedispenser apparatus of claim 4 wherein the ion yielding material iscarried on a carrier with the carrier comprising limestone.
 9. Thedispenser apparatus of claim 4 wherein the oxidizer comprises tabletsvertically stacked in said removable container.
 10. The dispenserapparatus of claim 4 wherein the first container includes an annular lipand the members includes an annular ledge for supporting the firstcontainer in a cantileverly fashion thereon.
 11. The dispenser apparatusof claim 4 wherein the housing comprises a sand filter housing with thesand filter housing containing a bed of sand therein for removing debrisfrom water flowing through said sand filter housing.
 12. A watertreatment system comprising: an auxiliary component of a water system,said auxiliary component having a housing; a dispenser apparatusincluding a pair of members, said pair of members secured to saidhousing in a water tight sealing arrangement said dispenser apparatusincluding acontainer, said container cantileverly supported within theauxiliary component by said pair of members; a water treatmentcomposition located in said container; and a plurality of openings insaid container with at least some of the plurality of openings spacedfrom one another to provide a fluid flow path through the watertreatment composition located in said container to thereby enable theauxiliary component to dispense the water treatment composition into thewater system.
 13. The water treatment system of claim 12 including asecond dispenser apparatus containing a second water treatmentcomposition mounted in the auxiliary component. 14 The water treatmentsystem of claim 12 wherein a second dispenser apparatus contains asecond water treatment composition different from said first watertreatment composition.
 15. The water treatment system of claim 14wherein both of the water treatment compositions are solids.
 16. Themethod of providing off-line water treatment to water treatment systemcomprising: forming a hole in a housing of a water system; mounting acontainer in a cantileverly fashion therefrom; and placing a watertreatment composition in the cantilever mounted container so that watercan come into contact with the water treatment composition to therebydispense the water treatment composition into the water system.